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ODRAZ B92, Belgrade Daily News Service
Odraz B92 vesti (by 10 PM), January 28, 1997
E-mail: odrazb92@b92.opennet.org, beograd@siicom.com
WWW: http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/, http://www.opennet.org/b92/
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All texts are Copyright 1997 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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NEWS BY 10 PM
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LAZAREVIC: COURT RULING ILLEGAL
Chair of the Belgrade Electoral Commission, Radomir Lazarevic,
told a Commission meeting on Monday that a decision had been
handed down by the First Municipal Court of Belgrade upholding
appeals by the Socialists and Radicals. The court had thus
annulled the commission's January 14 decision which awarded
victory to Zajedno in the Belgrade City Assembly. The court had
also ruled that its decision cannot be appealed. The court also
rejected a demand that judges of the First Municipal, District and
Supreme Courts be relieved from hearing electoral appeals and that
a special judicial panel be appointed.
The commission continues to insist that all its procedures since
the November elections have been completely legal and will
continue to be so. Mr Lazarevic denied that the commission had
been under any direct political pressure, but said that the
situation itself was pressure enough. He added that the Commission
had been under a blockade from all state media.
STUDENT PROTEST RESUMES
Student Protest Spokesman Bojan Bodganovic said on Monday that
student action would continue on Wednesday. Students are to gather
at their respective institutions and then proceed to the central
square at Slavia. After a program there, the students will set off
towards the Faculty of Philosophy unless prevented by police.
NEW CITY ASSEMBLY FOR NIS
The new City Assembly was constituted in Nis on Monday. This is
the first non-left city government in the former socialist
stronghold since the Second World War. Socialist deputies in the
assembly did not attend the opening session of the new Assembly,
stating that they wished to avoid possible party and personal
conflicts.
The City Assembly numbers 70 deputies, of whom 41 are Zajedno
representatives, 15 Socialists and 1 Radical. Verification of the
mandates of 13 deputies has been postponed pending a Supreme Court
hearing of a Zajedno appeal.
Democratic Party Vice President Zoran Zivkovic was elected Mayor.
Mr Zivkovic told a media conference after the opening session that
the major priority for the new city government will be economic
recovery. He announced that new legislation on local self-
government is being drafted by the Union of Free Cities and
Municipalities, and that this will give wider authority to local
governments. Mayor Zivkovic also said that the new city government
would seek protection against centralisation of government,
announcing that Nis would discontinue payments to the republic
until arrears owed in the area were paid out. He stressed that Nis
would have independent media.
ZAJEDNO RALLIES
Zajedno leaders announced on Monday that the daily protest rallies
would in future begin at 8.30 pm. Citizens are expected to come to
Republic Square from their various local marches and noise
protests during the 7.30 news bulletin on state television.
US SUPPORT
FoNet reports that Monday's St Sava's Day procession of thousands
of Belgrade citizens had been seen by the US administration as
another demonstration of public dissatisfaction with the Serbian
government.
US National Radio commented that the withdrawal of the police
cordon on Monday was a temporary measure by which the Serbian
regime sought to avoid a direct confrontation with the Orthodox
Church. National Radio went on to put great importance on the
visit to Belgrade of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov,
commenting that Russia agreed with the West that democratisation
of Serbia was essential for stabilisation on the territory of the
former Yugoslavia and the implementation of the Dayton accords in
Bosnia.
AP commented that the St Sava's Day procession was further proof
that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic had only the
paramilitary police force and the state-owned media to support his
continued regime.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Zajedno leader Zoran Djindjic told the daily Standard that the
opposition would solve the problem of Kosovo by granting it
autonomy, AFP reported on Monday.
More than 5,000 people celebrated St Sava's Day at a protest
meeting in central Sabac on Monday
The Kosovo Human Rights and Freedom Defence Council announced on
Monday that 14 ethnic Albanians had been killed or died from
torture in the region during 1996. In most cases the victims had
not been charged with criminal offences. The council also alleged
that 1,712 Albanians were taken into custody without warrants,
Beta reports.
The State Union of Teachers in Serbia has announced a complete
cessation of teaching from Tuesday. The industrial action is being
taken in protest at the government's failure to pay salaries which
are in arrears, Beta reports.
Kragujevac opposition supporters held their 58th protest meeting
in Kragujevac on Monday. Several hundred members of the
independent trade union Nezavisnost attended the rally. A Zajedno
spokesman announced that the General Manager of Kragujevac Water
Supply had been replaced, because it had been established that he
had supplied police with a bulldozer which was used to break a car
road-block protest in the city.
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic met Russian Deputy
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on Monday in Belgrade. Belgrade media
reported that the two ministers had agreed that the issue of local
elections in Serbia was an internal affair of the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia, and that the recommendations of the Gonzalez report
indicated that this issue should be resolved through a dialogue
and within the state.
Prepared by: Marija Milosavljevic
Edited by: Steve Agnew
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ODRAZ B92, Belgrade Daily News Service
E-mail: odrazb92@b92.opennet.org, beograd@siicom.com
WWW: http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/, http://www.opennet.org/b92/
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